This week was kind enough to deliver - just in time for my not so serious weekend commentary - the resignation of US Senator Larry Craig. S(oon-to-be-ex-)enator Craig represents Idaho. Idaho is part of the flat-earth, bible belt of the USA, so Senator Craig has been busy saying no to most things civil rights, like gay marriage, gay hate crime legislation, access to abortion services, the basics that most of us living in liberal democracies take for granted. That, of course, isn't particularly funny, or even hilarious. US bible belt politics we usually wheel out in order to explain why we really are not overly keen to live in a country where behaving with basic decency toward women, and ethnic and sexual minorities is still a popular debating point.
What is funny, of course, is that S(oon-to-be-ex-)enator Craig was forced to resign this week. Not a great loss, of course, but what is hilarious is the reason for his resignation. It's not the usual kind of corruption, hiring a sex worker type of stuff that is standard operating procedure of the Republican Party in the US of A, no, arch-homophobe Larry Craig was caught cruising for gay sex by an undercover police officer in an airport toilet. Now, that is funny. It goes without saying that Mr Craig held various press conferences (holding hands with his wife) where - usually in a high-pitch, kinda hysterical, voice he pronounced that he isn't gay and that he never was gay. To be honest, being gay myself, I wish that was true. Trouble is, it doesn't look like it...
So, good riddance to yet another Republican hypocrite biting the dust. Mind you, I truly have little time for good looking young men hanging around in public toilets in order to entrap gay men, but that's another story altogether. This particular sting operation just happened to have caught to right bloke.
Oh, and in case you want to know how they do it in the US of A. Well, it seems you kinda tap with your shoe on the floor in your cubicle and somehow (weirdly) push it into the next cubicle to touch the bloke-next-door's shoe. If he doesn't shout at you to get lost (or shoots you, it's the US of A after all) it seems you drop a piece of paper outlining what your sexual interests are. Keep in mind the obvious limitations of the public mens room environment. Finally, according to what will enter gay history as the 'Craig move', you move your hand under the cubicle divider into the other bloke's cubicle. Quite conceivably this all sounds pretty ridiculous to you. If it does, you might just want to laugh out loud, as I did, when I watched interpretations of the Craig move on various evening talkshows on US cable during the last week. The truth is, it is pretty funny stuff.
Nuff said. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
